Sound system for Porche Boxster 986 1997
 

Hey there, i've been lookin into atleast upgrading my stereo for my Porcshe, there is already an amp installed in the front trunk. Do you think i need to upgrade my door and dash speakers aswell or will the sound be fine with a new stereo. Thanks for all replies.
-Petter

I think it depends more on how you drive the car. If you do a lot of top-down driving, I would recommend getting the rear speaker aftermarket kit. That will help a lot more than upgrading the other speakers. If you do a lot of top up driving, though, it would probably be best to upgrade what's already there.

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Aftermarket amp or the Porsche original factory amp?
I kept my original head unit. Installed a JL Audio Amp in the front trunk ad JL audio speakers.

I added an aftermarket radio and utilize the existing AMP. Sounds great with new dash speakers but requires volume to be turned up high. Not sure if they ship worldwide but crutchfield makes/sells a plug and play wire harness for 986 Boxster.

I would pull out and look at your dash speakers to see if they are in good shape. Depending on the year; the foam surrounds disintegrate making them sound terrible. There are several tutorials for cutting up the existing speaker bracket to replace with aftermarket or another forum member sells adaptors that you can purchase and use.

The door speakers are actually subs if they are original (not very powerful), but they are less likely to disentegrate.

I put an Alpine head unit in my '99. Checked dash speakers and they are good. Left door speakers and amp as is. Great to have CD that doesn't skip and BT and charging cable for phone.

Have to say sound is much better. I use bass boost and love it.

How much money do you have? your options range from $25 to $2000 or more. What are your expectations and what is your end goal, doing the work yourself or someone else doing it? Way to many options. Look through youtube there are many videos.

I saw a video last year of a way to disconnect the CD player and solder a USB connector that can be fished to the console compartment and use my iPhone for music. Does anyone have a link or instructions on how to do this? Any recommendations for back speakers and how to connect? I have the rear box already so just need to do some surgery to get them in.

For cheap easy bluetooth I've had god luck with adding these two to the original becker.

This was more of a stop gap since everything that I'm looking at is out of stock everywhere.

This one is unavailable right now but worked really well and offers AUX, USB and handsfree input as well:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07D9JW6S1

This one was cheaper and easier to install as it's smaller and didn't have any additional inputs, but it's a bit more annoying as you have to connect to it each time and we did have to reset it every few weeks:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07MV115BF

I know this is probably not what you're looking for, but figured it might be helpful considering what the landscape of in stock items have been the last couple of months.

Thanks for the recommendation. Just got the BTA from Amazon yesterday and it seems to work well. I thought it replaced the CD connector but it plugs in right next to it. It was little tight plugging it in but after carefully pushing it slipped in (there's a joke in here somewhere). I like that I didn't lose the functionality of the CD player. I haven't tested the BT phone mic yet. It was a little tricky finding a place to attach it so I wound up running the wire under the dash and tucked it into the creases on the left side and positining it on the dash just above the vent. The BTA I attached to the shelf under the steering wheel with some double sided tape. I'm not so concerned about talking on the phone with this as I am for getting to listen to my streaming music. Just replaced the dash speakers which were disintegrated and am working in the dorr speakers today. Waiting on the rear speaker assembly from Suncoast and hope to install next week. Just the dash speaker replacement made a huge difference in sound.

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Look right below your phone mount in your cluster.

That's the OEM microphone mount.
if you disassemble the mic that came with the kit and put the foam pop filter from it around the capsule, it'll just squeeze into the void for the OEM mic.

It's a pain in the ass to run the cable but it's completely OEM look and it actually works great.

You will have to remove the cluster to run the cable down through the dash to the center console though.

I would say it's worth the effort to the point where I would do it again. And the mic that comes with it is good enough in that spot that I wouldn't replace it when I upgrade the head unit.

As for dash speakers I just replaced the OEM with the JL Audio C2 4".
Sounds decent with the OEM amp.

I also have a Bose sub/rear speaker from a 987 that I plan on replacing the drivers in with the JL Audio C2 3.5".

Then the real experimentation begins.
Gonna try and figure out what drivers can be fitted to replace the 5.25" woofers in the sub and the door subs.
I was going to go with the JL Audio C5 5.25" woofers but they discontinued them.
There's a few other options out there but it all comes down to mounting depth in the OEM enclosures.
Should be possible to some really decent sound without destroying the look.

Thanks. I thought that may have been a sensor. I'll check the Bentley manual for a way to remove the cluster. Do you have a pic of your mic set up? I installed Kicker 47KSC404 in the dash and they sound great. Got Kicker 47KSC504 for the door speakers installed today and frankly I'm not noticing that much of difference from the new speakers compared to the old ones but my hearing could be failing me. The old speakers were the OEMs and looked pretty much intact as they don't come in contact with direct sunlight like the dash mounts.

I never did take pictures of it.
I guess I should have so I could have done a proper writeup.

But it's fairly simple once you get the cluster off.
Biggest pain with that is releasing the connector for the hazard switch.

But after that you can simply pop out the mic trim piece with a trim tool and the mic capsule will just squeeze into the cavity in the back of the trim piece where the OEM mic would normally go.

It friction fits, but with just enough give that it wont pick up too much noise from the car.

Thanks. I checked it out and the mic is a tight fit into the trim piece. I'm afraid to force it and break the trim piece. I'm thinking I might be able to fish a line through the opening to the back and pull the mic cord through. Did you not use the foam covering?

Easier to just drill a hole in one of the blanks to the left of the radio and glue it in there. If you center it, you can hardly notice it. I'll get a picture of how I usually mount the mic later today. Much simpler and no need to pull the cluster out

I dissembled the mic, removing all the plastic, so I was left with just the capsule itself at the end of the wire.
Then stuck the foam around the capsule, both for fitment and pop filtering/decoupling, and crammed foam wrapped capsule into the rear of the trim piece right in the middle.

Getting the wire through the console was a pain in the rear, but everything else seemed to fit really well.

Thanks for the tips. I'm going to see if I can snake a cord through the mic opening and dash and if so, crack open the mic. If that doesn't fly I may go the other route and use those blanks.

Advice on speaker harness
 

I"m in the process of installing my rear speakers and am ready to connect to the back of the radio. The pic shows the harness with the wires connected but it doesn't fit into the radio. The harness next to it was in the plastic bag with the clips and does fit. Am I supposed to break apart the larger harness and insert the connectors into the smaller one? I now this is a simple issue but I've never dealt with these connectors before.http://986forum.com/forums/uploads02...1620317279.jpg

Need more info. What exactly are you trying to do & use? Not sure what plastic bag you are referring to.

Need a more complete picture. factory radio, factory amp, aftermarket, etc.

Installing the rear speaker kit from Suncoast. The connector on the right came in a separate parts bag with the kit. It fits the radio. The wired connector is too big to hook up to the back of the CDR220. I'm thinking I need to remove the wires from the larger harness and install into the smaller one but I wanted to check with those more in the know to see if I'm missing something or if I need to cut and splice.

Do you have a factory amp? I dont think that kit takes the amp into consideration, just assumes that there isn't one.

I just looked at the back of a cdr220 I have and neither of those connectors would plug into the back.

Might want to reach out to Suncoast to see if they have any instructions. I know I saw a writeup somewhere before but I just always run my own wires & wire to the amp when doing rear speaker installs.

Yes, I believe the dash and door speakers are connected to it but the rear speakers go into the radio. I was wondering if that larger connector somehow is for the amp. Instructions say this are connected to the radio. The smaller connector fits into the B labeled group of pins in the middle of the back of the deck.

Any thoughts on a better amp that's easy to install if I decide to upgrade that?

My go to amp is the mb quart na2-500.5 Not the most powerful, but it's 5 channel and compact. perfect replacement for the factory. Search for some of my other posts. There are better and more powerful amps and doing 2 separate amps isn't an issue but then things start to get a little crazy with running wiring, power, etc. It's a convertible so no matter what you spend it wont ever be as good as a coupe. There is no good way to put a sub in that hides it to where someone wont want to cut your top to take the sub either.

When I replace systems I will typically just cut any factory connector, solder or crimp wires and run things to either an amp or from the head unit depending on the head unit and car. Comes down to budget more then anything. Have had some people that wanted to spend more on a headunit and go less on speakers or some that wanted better speakers & subs. Dont cheap out when it comes to rca cables, always get shielded cables no matter what. For a 986 I usually budget around $500 to replace everything and put in a mid level head unit.

I spoke with a tech from Suncoast today, and he told me that the harness with the wires connected is meant to be used if the rear speakers were connected directly to the amp. They don’t mention this in the instructions they included with the kit. The cable that runs from the speakers all the way to the front of the car is meant to be connected to that smaller harness and that goes into the back of the radio. Would’ve been nice if they made that clear from the beginning but it’s a learning experience for me.

I appreciate your input on your set up. I think I may upgrade the amp next to something a little better but not too difficult to install and If that goes well maybe upgrade the deck to Pioneer or something else that’s compatible with the existing set up. I can’t see spending $1300 for the new set up that includes the touchscreen and all of the modern features.

$1300? What would you be buying for that much? Apply car play or android auto systems sell for under $400, amp under $200.

If you have a 4 channel amp (which I think all 986s have unless special ordered with the rear speakers from the factory) then the rear speakers cannot be run directly to the factory amp (unless you piggy back it into one of the outputs for the front / dash speakers). I dealt with this a few months ago. Best options are to scrounge up a 6 channel amp or to add a 2 channel amp, which is what I did. Wiring is easy and it fit well next to the factory amp.

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It Porsche Classic Communications management Plus for the princely sum of $1299.95

The Plus must mean plus $40 for a mandatory connector kit Plus another $135 for Maps so it's damn close to $1500 with tax. I've read that on sunny days the LCD screen is hard to read.

Why in the world would you put something in that was outdated 6 months after it was installed at the factory? I'm all for keeping things stock but that is just insane to consider something like that.

Best of luck with the whole thing. I think your going to find that what you are attempting to do is going to end up costing you more then originally planned. Your now going to need to replace the factory amp with a different factory amp and still have less power then you could of had for half the price going with something different.

Thanks for the advice. Just to be clear, no way was I going to drop that kind of cash on the PCM. I figured about $600-700 for an upgrade and I'm in $400 so far for the speakers. Are you advising upgrading the deck over the factory amp? Frankly, most of the time when i drive with the top down I have the music off and enjoy listening to the sound of the engine.

I agree....my Boxster ONLY "sees" nice top down weather (I raise the top before it goes from my garage in November to winter storage) .....so I could care less about sound quality. I installed new dash speakers because after 20 years the factory ones were "dust"...lol.

Top down and 50-60mph all I care about is the ride.....the family BMW sedan has the sound system I care about......but that's me.

For cars that I do work on, I will replace the dash speakers with something decent, door subs get replaced, if there is the rear storage tray I'll put speakers in with the mounts that I designed and make. I'll put a head unit in and an amp.

Dash speakers - $40
Door subs - $60
rear speakers - $40
Head unit - $200
Amp - $150
RCA cables - $40
Install bracket, antanna adapter - $50
Total: $580 MAX

With the top up it's good sound with it down it is decent and pretty good for a convertible. Of course the head unit I might get even cheaper if I find something used like a Kenwood DNX, Alpine INX, Pioneer AVIC, etc. Lately I have not been doing any nav systems, just getting something with carplay/android auto. I dont see any reason to get nav in a head unit since the phone is always going to get updated maps for free anyway.

Speaking of door subs.
How much room is there between the "sub" and the door panel ?

Wondering if I can fab an adapter to squeeze a 6.5" woofer into that 5 1/4" opening without it hitting the door panel.

Basically I was gonna cut out a half inch thick HPDE, bolt that into the OEM driver location and dremel it out till it would take a 6.5" shallow mount driver.

Dont know. you would have to also do some kind of enclosure for it also or it's sound would be pretty useless. Finding one of good quality and performance isn't going to be easy either.

making a bracket is the easy part.

I just use the sub out of a 5 1/4" component setup and toss the tweeter & crossover cause I always wire the door up to the sub output on a 5 channel amp or to a mono amp.

Yeah that was my initial plan.
But I'm having a very hard time finding decent woofers that are actually in stock.

So started making hopeful plans that I could fit a 6.5" which are in stock :)

I used an adapter for a mitshibushi, i think was .5” to install 6.5” woofers in the doors. Did not have a clearance issue. I bought some second hand nokia door boxes for 986 to cut up and modify then bolted in used stock wiring harness.

Wanted to circle back and thank everyone for their valuable input and advice.

Got the rear speakers installed last week and I couldn't be happier with the sound improvement. What a difference! The door speakers even sound more lively with the rear speaker install. I don't know if I could be happier with a new amp install but I'll enjoy what I have for now.

Same here. My car doesn't see ice or snow or road salt. If it was my primary car I'd be a little hesitant to work on it not knowing the completion timeline. If you haven't installed the car speakers I highly recommend it as you'll enjoy your car more. I paid $300 to Suncoast to get the set up already put together but it sound like Stl-986 here may have a less expensive alternative. It's 71 and cloudy today, time to take it out and play!

The sunset kit is nice (not really theirs though). I have 3d printers though so I didn't want to pay someone for something I can make myself not to mention having to use their specific speakers (can't stand Pioneer equipment). Plus I dont know what gauge wire they use. It's a really easy setup, just takes time to do it.

With the top down, you wont ever hear the door speakers (if they are subs anyway). In a convertible the most sound is going to come from the rear if speakers are pointed at your head & not obstructed. The dash are going to get washed out if the windows are down from the wind.

Having printers is nice for something like this but I really got into it to make custom toolbox organizers. Now I dont have to hunt for a 10mm socket, screwdriver or anything really.